Barn Door for JK factory hardtops

[p8ntbill2]

Sliding side windows on OEM Hardtop?

jscherb, have you given anymore thought to the sliding windows for the stock hardtops?

Bill

 

[jscherb]

jscherb, have you given anymore thought to the sliding windows for the stock hardtops?

Bill

Yes. I haven't implemented it yet, but I have worked out a plan and a design for adapting flat slider windows to the curved mounting surface of the factory hardtop. Standard RV-style sliding windows could be used without modification with the design I've worked out.

 

[jscherb]

Last night my schedule and Tom's finally worked out, so we got the wiper installed in his barn door.

We'll be installing his ModuluS mounting hardware next (which is a work of art BTW).

 

[jscherb]

Tom's wiper in action:

 

[jscherb]

Tom and I are preparing to do the wiring for the barn door wiper and defroster. The barn door components are electrically compatible with the factory hardtop circuits, and we will be making the wiring 100% plug-and-play. Since the tailgate hinges on the opposite side of the tub from where the factory hardtop wiring is, we'll be making up an extension that will plug directly into the factory wiring and be routed under the carpet to the other side of the tub. The factory third brake light wiring goes from the tub to the tailgate inside a webbing tube, circled below:

That tube is too small for the extra wiring and the washer hose to go through it (not to mention that the plug won't fit through it either), so what we'll do is piggyback the additional wiring and hose on the factory webbing tube, and then encase everything in a larger tube. The larger tube is also made from webbing, so it looks like the factory piece, but it's larger and also has a zipper so it wraps around everything and zips closed into a tube. I sewed this the other day:

And in case anyone ever needs plugs that match the hardtop, pretty much every MOPAR minivan or Dodge Durango made in the 2000's that has a trailer hitch will have "T" connectors the tail lights that have the same plugs as the hardtop, I picked this up the other day in the junkyard for a buck.

The plugs are very easy to rewire, the pins snap right out, you can solder new wires to the pins and then snap them back into the plug housing.

So the barn door wiring will plug directly into the factory hardtop plug in the Jeep, be hidden under the carpet, and pass over to the tailgate in a factory-looking webbing sleeve. Should be a very OEM-looking installation.

 

[AEV Conversions]

If anyone knows any more about this AEV concept, I'd love to hear about it.

I know a bit about it It was a concept called the "SleepOver" IIRC that we did in 06 just to spice up our SEMA show vehicle when the JK was brand new. It consisted of a composite lower tray that attached to the stock roof, an upper composite shell, a tent, some electric actuators a roof vent, lighting and a mattress pad. Overall it worked great, but was just too heavy and was going to require too much development work to turn into an actual product when we had a million other things going on with the JK. To do it right, it would have to be some vacuume or pressure produced composite parts, the spray up we used was far too heavy. I even toyed with the idea of stamping in aluminum for a while but just got too busy...Not enough bandwith! Sadly this thing has been sitting out back for the last 8+ years.

Here is a CAD image showing the arm mechanism inside that the actuators controlled



We also did a barndoor and rear top on the TJ in 2004 or 5 that might be interesting to some on this thread. Pics of what I could find below.
http://forum.aev-conversions.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=71&thumb=1&d=1196136240
http://jpfreek.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/galleries/aev-iceland-expedition/aev_iceland3.jpg

A video of even of me spraying up the mold.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPFLnJH9MdU

dh

 

[jscherb]

I know a bit about it It was a concept called the "SleepOver" IIRC that we did in 06 just to spice up our SEMA show vehicle when the JK was brand new. It consisted of a composite lower tray that attached to the stock roof, an upper composite shell, a tent, some electric actuators a roof vent, lighting and a mattress pad. Overall it worked great, but was just too heavy and was going to require too much development work to turn into an actual product when we had a million other things going on with the JK. To do it right, it would have to be some vacuume or pressure produced composite parts, the spray up we used was far too heavy. I even toyed with the idea of stamping in aluminum for a while but just got too busy...Not enough bandwith! Sadly this thing has been sitting out back for the last 8+ years.

Here is a CAD image showing the arm mechanism inside that the actuators controlled

View attachment 250097
dh

Dave,

Thanks so much for the info! That will be very helpful as I progress through this project.

Will you be at SEMA next month? I'd love to meet you and chat a while if you've got a little time.

Jeff

 

[jscherb]

...We also did a barndoor and rear top on the TJ in 2004 or 5 that might be interesting to some on this thread. Pics of what I could find below.
http://forum.aev-conversions.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=71&thumb=1&d=1196136240
http://jpfreek.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/galleries/aev-iceland-expedition/aev_iceland3.jpg

dh

Thanks for the links to the photos. I've seen photos of your barn door project before, and I've given a lot of thought to the design, and often have thought about doing a one-piece door like you did. When I did the TJ/LJ Safari Cab design, I decided to go with a barn door upper that attaches to the factory tailgate instead because I thought it would make converting from the hardtop to the soft top and back a lot easier.

The two-piece door has worked out so well on my LJ for the past 4 years that I decided to use the same concept for this JK barn door.

But I do still think about doing a one-piece, and if I ever find a reason it would be better than the two-piece design, I'll probably make molds for it .

 

[jscherb]

The other night Tom and I did the first test-fit of the barn door hardware on his JK. Here's a work-in-progress photo:

Tom's ModuluS mounting/rack system worked perfectly and was very easy to install to the tailgate and very strong. In the photo above the barn door is secured to the ModuluS with clamps because we haven't drilled the mounting holes in the barn door yet.

In the photo above you can also see the wiper/defroster wiring and the washer hose running from the body to the door. The new wiring along with the factory tailgate wiring is all encased in the zippered webbing sleeve I showed anout 10 days ago. The routing of the wire on the door isn't final, it's slightly long so we'll be shortening it a bit. The plug on the end of the wire is the same as the hardtop plug in the Jeep; the wiring is basically an "extension cord" with factory-matching plugs on both ends.

The barn door side of the wiring isn't in the photo above, but you can see it in this next photo of both barn doors on the workbench. The one that's laying down is the one in the photo above. The wiring exits the bottom of the barn door and has the same plug. Also visible in this photo is the washer nozzle mounted alongside the wiper motor shaft, and the washer hose connection on the underside of the door.

In the first photo the wiper cavity is open; it will be covered by a fiberglass cover. Here's a work-in-progress photo of the mold master for cover, when the master is done I'll make a mold of it so we can make the final parts.

 

[goin camping]

I just keep watching this thread waiting and hoping you license this design soon.

This product is a rare one in that it is so practical that it will appeal to non off road jeep owners as well as the off roaders. Who doesn't want to be able to "One hand" open up the entire rear of their jeep for loading everything from groceries, dogs to camping equipment.

Keep doing what you are doing.

 

[jscherb]

I just keep watching this thread waiting and hoping you license this design soon.

This product is a rare one in that it is so practical that it will appeal to non off road jeep owners as well as the off roaders. Who doesn't want to be able to "One hand" open up the entire rear of their jeep for loading everything from groceries, dogs to camping equipment.

Keep doing what you are doing.

Thank you.

After having the barn door on my LJ for almost 4 years now, I couldn't agree with you more - I would never want to go back to a two-piece liftgate/tailgate combination.

I don't know if this design will get licensed and into production, that'll depend on if some company/person wants to bring it to market.

 

[M35A2]

To confirm, does the full width JK barn door upper work with the stock hardtop weatherstripping?

 

[jscherb]

To confirm, does the full width JK barn door upper work with the stock hardtop weatherstripping?

Yes, both versions of the barn door (early model narrow and late model wide) work with the stock hardtop weatherstripping.

I'm also making the mold for the JK Safari Cab rear panel to accept the factory weatherstrip, so everything is factory compatible.

 

[jscherb]

A drawing simulating the JKU Safari Cab showing the windows on either side of the barn door for improved rearward visibility, an Alpine window on the roof which curves over the top, and a slider window on the side.

 

[TexasTJ]

I would have so rocked that top on my old JK.